Where to spend winter? North Carolina or South Carolina? Other?

[JSEB328]

I recently found out that I will not be back to working in an office until July 2022, and my husband’s job is fully remote. We live in New England and are considering snow-birding this winter from January to end of March/ early April. Shockingly my husband suggested trying someplace horsey.

I would tend to lean toward Aiken SC or Southern Pines area NC but are there other places we should consider? Any suggestions of how to find a house to rent- would contacting real estate agents be best? Here is what we would need: dog friendly (we have two dogs), a separate house (not a condo), good wifi so we can work. I would want to board two horses somewhere close by and would want access to be able to hack out/ trail ride and some smaller scale competition potentially but that wouldn’t really be a high priority for me (not interested in big AA type horse showing).

My husband would want some non-horsey amenities like good restaurants, movies, some night life.

Any suggestions from people who have done this?

[ElementFarm]

it’s already on your short list, but I love SP. I’ve lived a lot of places and Southern Pines is the only place I ever wanted to live in forever.
There are seasonal rentals, though you’re also competing with the golf crowd. Lots of private barns offer boarding with foundation access, and there are shows at all levels within an hour or two trailer ride. Lots of amenities and horse-related professionals to choose from.

and as a former New Englander, let me just say that it is practically magical to be able to ride all winter without an indoor, borium, ice pick, and 3 heavyweight blankets.

[OTTBs]

I’m surprised there haven’t been more responses. Recently I’m thinking about relocating somewhere where maybe I could ride 9 months in a row and take one godawful season off, versus the Midwestern too cold–ride a month or two–too hot and/or humid–ride a few months. Oh, and most USEA events land in too-hot-or-humid months.

So I too am wondering about NC, SC, and VA: is the humidity horrible year round, or just in the summer, or 9 months of the year? Being able to show in the cool part of the year sounds awesome.

[wookiee]

I am also surprised by the lack of replies but there are a couple of threads about this, so maybe everyone has given their opinion?

I spent 3 winters in SP and then 3 in Aiken and now have moved permanently to Aiken. I found SP to be a lovely town, but it did get cold, frozen ground a couple of days, and there was a lack of close schooling shows during the winter. Things wake up in March, but there were a couple of days I couldn’t ride because of the weather. Not New England bad, just worth mentioning. 5-10 degrees different between the places makes a difference when you are straddling freezing.

In Aiken, there has never been a day I couldn’t ride. No frozen ground. Some cold, wet days, but never dangerous. There’s also a schooling opportunity running every day of the week except Mondays it seems, from dressage, H/J, eventing, foxhunting. My barn does eventing, H/J, and foxhunting so having that variety was key. There’s just more stuff going on in Aiken. In SP, there’s a great foxhunt. In Aiken, there’s 4 within an hour and 7 within 1.5. In SP, there’s a nice dressage schooling series but no H/J shows over the winter. In Aiken, there’s schooling H/J shows nearly every weekend. Etc.

I work from home so my advice would be to join one of the many Aiken Equestrian groups on FB and put an ISO ad for housing. Same for SP. Be very specific, especially about wifi, because internet is not a given in Aiken, especially if you are out in the more horsey areas. My first rentals had no, zero, nada internet and I had to buy a cellular router.

For hubby:
SP has better restaurants because of the golfers, and a movie theatre, maybe night life?
Aiken has a few good restaurants, a terrible movie theatre and little night life. However, Columbia is actually a very fun, surprising town and it’s an hour away if you are on the west side of town. A lot of the social life in Aiken revolves around the many horse activities, so lots of tailgating at polo or steeplechase which is good fun and might be enough for non-horsey spouses. There’s also live music downtown every Thursday and lots of street festivals.

Good luck!

[wookiee]

@OTTBs

So I too am wondering about NC, SC, and VA: is the humidity horrible year round, or just in the summer, or 9 months of the year?

This is only my 6th year in Aiken but I have to say the weather is not horrific. Yes, it’s hot. Yes, you will sweat. But you ride early and it’s manageable. We are getting into July and the humidity is just now picking up, so I would say the majority of the year it is actually quite pleasant. I am from New England and I found myself saying: “The weather today is awesome” more times a week/month in Aiken than I ever did in New England… all seasons…

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

@Turntable

My SOs concern is that it will be very politically radical because it is the rural south

Places like Aiken are full of transplants from other places, which influences the political climate. BestPlaces.net calls it “somewhat conservative.” It’s hardly “politically radical.”

Neither is it “the rural South.” They’ve got a symphony orchestra, for Dogs sake.

However, given the tone of your comments about politics, you would probably be happier in Harrisburg, which BestPlaces.net calls “moderately liberal.” If you go into Aiken with an “angry bags of wind” chip on your shoulder, that’s going to color your interactions with people and won’t be conducive to establishing friendly social connections.

I’ve lived in various places in the south for the past 47 years (Michigan and eastern Pennsylvania before that). Yes, there are people and areas that fit the worst of those “rural South” stereotypes. But, they are very much in the minority and generally easy to avoid. I love living in the South.

[Bluey]

Posts show up randomly for posters to check out and some just don’t show enough to get answers.
This thread just did show up for me.

I vote for SP, the real horsey place for decades for winter training and as a trainer for checking horses out and do some trading.
All others are second to SP.

[HeyJealousy]

Agreed with those who said Southern Pines. I have been here 11 years now and don’t plan on leaving. Yes, we do get a few days each winter where the ground is too frozen to ride but generally speaking it’s fairly mild. And there is a great downtown area with fun shopping, restaurants and night life. I love it here.

[gertie06]

Just one more place to consider…

Not typically thought of as “horsey,” but the area around Hilton Head Island is wonderful. It’s beautiful with lots to do and great food. Once you get far off the island, it’s definitely hicksville, but the island itself seems pretty moderate thanks to all the tourism.

There are some fabulously beautiful barns nearby, but I assume they’re $$$$, so it might not be budget-friendly.

But on the upside, it’s dang warm that far south! Their winter highs are around 60 degrees. Yes please!

[awaywego]

I think the Harrisburg area sounds like a depressing winter destination. The weather would be marginally better than New England I guess, but the politics of rural Pennsylvania are probably pretty close to the rural South. (I live in southeastern PA…Harrisburg is not exactly known as a liberal oasis.)

I really loved Southern Pines when one of my horses spent a few months over the winter there. DH is not interested in golf and there really wasn’t a heckuva a lot of other options that I could find for him. It would be a tough sell to spend more time there.

Neither will compare remotely to LA!

I don’t know ANYTHING about the horse scene near Asheville, NC but I could see that area working out if Tryon isn’t terrible for the winter?

[stb]

@Turntable your husband’s concerns about the rural south being politically radical are valid. Certainly not everybody in the rural south is an “angry bag of wind” but definitely they are in the majority in the rural south. I understand his concern and do not find the question offensive. It is reality, like it or not.

Signed, someone who was born and raised in the south.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

@Turntable

I was looking for personal experiences of people who have moved there, not someone else …We are in CA now but a more rural area. He liked LA, he played soccer and had friends he rode bikes and skied with and that enjoyed cooking and socializing as families as well as doing guy-stuff. …

How do you know I have no personal knowledge of Aiken? And your response just illustrates what I was saying - you already have preconceived, negative notions of what life in the south is like. Having such notions sets you up for failure. Why even consider moving to a place about which you already have concerns?

If LA is your standard of a good place to live and you hate northern CA, that is a very strong indicator that you will be happier in a larger metropolitan area.

Edited to add that there are plenty of places farther south than Harrisburg, PA, that are certainly liberal enough to suit you and have better winters than Harrisburg. The Chapel Hill-Durham-Raleigh area and, increasingly, the surrounding environs, for example. Asheville, NC. I have two flamingly liberal friends who live happily in Nashville, TN. Certain areas in and around Atlanta.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

But you’re missing a key point. Do you really believe that @Turntable has accurately characterized Aiken as being part of “the rural South?”

What, about Aiken, with its plethora of full-time and seasonal transplants from up north and larger metropolitan areas, makes you believe that it is part of the “rural South” with it’s requisite population of “angry bags of wind?”

[Xanthoria]

“somewhat conservative” in the USA is equivalent pretty right wing in some places in Europe. Just saying…

@Turntable I am from rural UK, have spent a lot of time working in the Carolinas, and live in CA. I would not be happy living in the Carolinas. I get it.

[SharonA1]

I am wondering if areas outside Denver, Colorado would be a good fit? Lots of biking/hiking/general outdoor lifestyle stuff, vibrant restaurant/bar scene (for all ages), a big airport, and men are allowed to go do stuff with their guy friends without being assumed to be gay. It will probably be more expensive than the South, but, maybe worth it.

[gertie06]

I lived in/around Denver for 17 years. There’s good and bad. Lots of sunshine, but also seven months of snow. Fun stuff to do and good restaurants…if you don’t mind tons of traffic getting there.
I also found it a challenging place for horses. The ground is really hard, so we saw a lot more soundness challenges than we do now (currently living in NC). Land is crazy expensive, so turnout is limited. And if you like to show? Well, it’s the Colorado Horse Park or you’re driving 10+ hours to the next good showgrounds.

[BraveSC]

I live in Aiken and LOVE it…feel free to PM me with any questions!

[awaywego]

The weather in Harrisburg may be marginally different than Philadelphia but only in that sometimes Harrisburg gets a snowstorm that Philadelphia doesn’t and vice versa. I dated a guy who lived in Harrisburg when I lived in Philadelphia years ago - at the time there the selection of restaurants was pretty abysmal and downtown Harrisburg was a ghost town in the evenings. I’m sure it’s changed a lot since then but I remain hugely skeptical (can you tell? ). I really just think it would be disappointing all the way around. If airport convenience is a thing, I think you’d end up driving to bigger airports from there anyway.

Southern Pines definitely has the village culture - I love the town. It’s also fairly convenient to Raleigh-Durham so you’re not far from a real airport and more options than a small town can reasonably offer. I haven’t been to Aiken - I’d been debating going there for this winter actually but it’s such a long drive for me that, unlike SP, it’s not as easy for me to go back and forth for long weekends etc.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Florida has great winter weather. Prime riding time and generally cool and dry through February. Politics depend on where you go.